


All These Midnight Streets

by magnoliafilms



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, but what else is new, there's like a good 500 words worth of me waxing poetic about the stars, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnoliafilms/pseuds/magnoliafilms
Summary: “You have to look up, Mark. That’s where the stars are.”
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	All These Midnight Streets

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I wrote this all while listening to [Ribs](https://open.spotify.com/track/0TEekvXTomKt3hdXDZxxeW?si=dOu9ld2RT5GRFu25Duh4NQ) by Lorde and [Champagne Problems](https://open.spotify.com/track/0sY6ZUTh4yoctD8VIXz339?si=r-Eu_AcBSqK2VCTeIcm-hQ) by Taylor Swift on repeat. Leave me alone, I'm just sad and gay.  
> Happy Valentines to Noah (and to you! whoever's reading this)

He feels a little pathetic about it all honestly. Renjun had politely turned down his date proposal, and now he was stuck. Alone. On  _ Valentine’s Day. _

It isn’t like it’s the first time it’s happened. He’s been turned down countless times before. And somehow, in twenty-one years, he hasn’t been asked on a Valentine’s Day date  _ once.  _

Perhaps in another life, if Mark was more outgoing, or flirty, he wouldn’t be sitting by himself on the floor of his dorm with a half finished tub of ice cream in his lap. Perhaps he’d be at some unreasonably overpriced restaurant with a cute boy in the seat across from him rather than mourning his own loneliness in the comfort of his own home. 

He’s got some stupid reality show playing, and he’s only half paying attention, more focused on shovelling heaped spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth. 

His phone buzzes. And the first time he ignores it, his body too exhausted to respond. And then there’s another. And another. And another until it’s vibrating noisily on the coffee table and TWICE’s BDZ blasting serves as a reminder that he’s supposed to be a person right now. 

A zoomed in picture of Johnny’s face covers almost the entire screen, and Mark swipes a hand over his eyes as he slides the button across to answer the call. 

“Markie!” Johnny says happily when he answers the phone, “Are you busy right now?”

Mark glances down at the dirty spoon in his hand, the unfinished tub of ice cream that’s tipping sideways in his lap. “Uh, probably not. Do you need my help?”

Johnny makes a quiet humming noise that Mark can hear through the phone, “No, no. I was just wondering if you wanted to come over.”

Mark frowns, he pulls the phone away from his ear and taps the screen to bring up the time, he presses the phone back to his ear, “It’s nearly ten pm on  _ Valentine’s Day _ , Dude. Are you trying to tell me you don’t have  _ anything _ better to do?”

Johnny’s laugh echoes through the phone. “Tell me what  _ you’re _ doing then.”

Mark is quiet for a moment. He knows he’s been caught, and so he sighs into the phone, tipping his head forwards to rest it in his hands. “Will you come and pick me up then? I don’t feel like walking.”

On the other end of the line, there’s a shuffling and the very distinct sound of keys rattling as they’re picked up. “I’m on my way.” Johnny says, and then he hangs up, leaving Mark in stunned silence. 

Johnny doesn’t knock when he arrives, only throws open the front door, scaring Mark half to death as he pushes his way into the living room.

He stands patiently waiting in the doorway, he’s slouching a little, just to make sure his head doesn’t touch the top of the doorframe. It’s almost endearing in a way that makes Mark want to shut his brain off completely as soon as the thought crosses his mind.

“Are you coming?” Johnny says. His keys jingle in his hands when he holds them up by his head and smiles his big stupid smile that makes Mark want to close the door on him and go back to his tub of Ben and Jerry’s. 

Mark huffs out a sigh and pushes himself up off the floor. He pretends he doesn’t notice Johnny’s bemused expression as he stumbles around the room trying to find his coat and keys. 

The drive to Johnny’s place is short, barely worth getting in the car for. But in the bitter wind of late winter, it’s a luxury —that Mark often exploits— to buckle himself into the passenger seat and crank up the heating. 

Mark shoves his hands deep into his coat pockets while he waits for Johnny to open the door to his dorm room.

When they make it inside, Johnny tears off his own coat and dives for his bed. He had to have it specially brought in to accommodate his height. He spreads out his arms and legs like an enormous starfish and looks at Mark expectantly.

Mark cocks an eyebrow, “Where am I supposed to sit?”

Johnny gestures to his body, wiggles his arms a little, “Believe it or not, this was  _ actually _ an invitation for a hug.” Then, slowly, he begins to close in on himself, “But I suppose if you didn’t really want one…”

He trails off as Mark leaps on top of him, tucking himself into Johnny’s side easily. Johnny folds around him, and Mark finds himself breathing in the comforting smell of Johnny’s hoodie.

“Weren’t you supposed to have a date tonight?” Mark mumbles into the dark fabric covering Johnny’s chest. 

Johnny shrugs underneath him, “Wasn’t really feeling it. He didn’t seem super into me either though, so I guess it was a win-win in the end.”

Mark snorts, “I don’t know if spending the evening with your mopey best friend counts as a win…”

“They put a bunch of Ghibli movies on Netflix.”

Mark sits upright. “And you let me just sit here without telling me? What kind of best friend are you?”

Johnny rolls off the side of the bed rather gracefully for someone of his size. He reaches underneath his bedside table and pulls out his computer, dropping it onto the bed covers. “You pick one,” He says, “I’ll get snacks.”

Then he’s turning around to rummage in his specially assigned snack-cupboard to pull out a variety of packets and boxes. 

Mark taps away at Johnny’s laptop, bringing up the Netflix site easily and pulling up  _ Spirited Away _ . When Johnny ambles over and glances at the screen, he narrows his eyes. “Didn’t we watch this one last time?”

Mark pokes him in the side and snatches a packet of gummy bears from his arms. “I don’t care, it’s my favourite and I am  _ sad _ .”

Johnny drops down onto the bed beside him, “Fair enough.”

Together, they rearrange the spread Johnny’s selected for them, and lay in matching crescent shapes around Johnny’s laptop.

Johnny hits the spacebar, and Mark buries himself underneath the warm covers of Johnny’s bed. 

Mark cries at the end. He’s not sure why, it’s not like it’s particularly sad. And it’s not like its the first time he’s seen the film. Johnny doesn’t say anything, just grabs the box of tissues on the table beside his bed and holds them out for Mark to take a few. 

They sit as the credits roll.

And it’s oddly comforting. 

Mark wipes away his tears, and Johnny doesn’t move from beside him. Doesn’t turn to stare or ask about what’s wrong. He’s just  _ there. _

His phone pings with a twitter notification, and he realises just how late it is. 

“I’ve got a damn morning class,” he laments, and Johnny laughs quietly at him.

“Sucks to be you then,” And he narrowly misses the pillow that’s thrown his way. “I’m kidding,” he says in between giggles, “Do you want me to drive you home?”

Mark sighs, “Would you?”

“Yeah dude,” Johnny says, climbing off of his bed once more and reaching for his car keys, “It’s no biggie.”

*

“Johnny... Where are we going?”

Johnny grins at him, “How desperately do you need to get back to your dorm?”

The time displayed in tiny flashing letters on Johnny’s dashboard does not seem to bode well for the version of Mark that’s supposed to be awake in six hours. But he grits his teeth and bites out a hushed, “ _ Why?” _

“I thought we could take a little detour. You’re always going on about how you’ve never seen the stars properly. Why not now?”

All the tension washes out of Mark’s face, “Really?” 

“If you’re down.” Johnny keeps his eyes on the road, “I did some research and apparently there’s this abandoned lighthouse out on the point. There’s no light pollution that far out so you can kind of see everything.”

“You’d really do that for me?”

“Of course I would.”

Mark feels his heart melt a little. Feels those tears from earlier rising up behind his eyes.

Johnny turns down a side road, taking them further away from the city. It’s narrow and windy as they make their way up one side of a hill before they drop down the other side.

In the background, Johnny’s copy of  _ Pure Heroine  _ by Lorde plays softly out of his jammed CD player. Mark twists the volume dial up as the chorus to  _ Ribs _ plays. 

Johnny sings along, voice kept soft and low and Mark wishes he would be more confident in his vocal talent. 

Mark watches the length of Johnny’s fingers as he taps restlessly at the steering wheel, his palm braced firmly against it.

Johnny parks the car on the side of the road, the lighthouse’s intimidating silhouette glares down at them and Mark shivers in his thin hoodie. Johnny leads the way over to the base of the lighthouse. When he turns back, Mark’s still watching his feet, trying to find his way in the dark.

“You have to look  _ up _ , Mark. That’s where the stars are.” 

Mark knows he’s just teasing, but he still waits until he’s standing beside Johnny before he looks up properly. And when he does…

Sure, he’s seen stars before. The tiniest glimmers on the horizon just as the sky darkens every night. The brightly shining ones that he’s told are actually just planets.

But out here…

Out here there’s nothing stopping him from seeing them all. 

His mouth falls open softly and it feels like he’s missed out on half a life before this. Beside him, Johnny sucks in a sharp breath, and Mark turns to face him, wide eyed and awestruck.

Johnny’s practically towering over him, and with every gentle exhale, Mark can feel his hot breath on his skin. And then he tears his eyes away, putting an oddly uncomfortable distance between them.

“Fuck, Mark.” He says softly enough that Mark thinks that maybe he wasn’t supposed to hear it.

“Johnny?” Mark tries, because now he’s unsure. Because now he’s worried.

Johnny shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his oversized hoodie, and for maybe the first time, he looks particularly small. Awfully vulnerable.

“I just wanted to give you a Valentine’s Date. I just— You’re always going on about how you’ve never had one, and about how you’ve never seen the damn stars because of all the light pollution in the cities and— I don’t know. I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

He spins away from Mark, facing out into the night, tilting his face up towards the lighthouse. He laughs almost bitterly, and Mark winces at his tone, “It’s stupid, I know. And now we’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

Mark frowns, “Johnny, I don’t… I don’t get it. What’s going on?”

“ _ I’m in love with you. _ ”

And he says it so quietly that it almost doesn’t properly register in Mark’s jumbled brain. But then it clicks, and it’s like something enormous shifts into place. 

“ _ I’m in love with you,” _ Johnny says again, further cementing the reality of the situation, “And I feel like such an asshole because what kind of  _ idiot _ falls in love with their best friend.”

And Mark doesn’t know what to say. 

“ _ Oh _ .” Is all he can manage. 

It isn’t like he’s never considered it. Johnny’s certainly attractive. But they’ve always been  _ friends. _ And Mark’s not sure how he’d cope with himself if he somehow fucked that kind of relationship up.

But Johnny’s just laid himself bare at Mark’s feet. And he’d be cruel to do something as ruthless as to stomp on his heart without even trying. Perhaps turning him down would be to destroy anything they’d had to begin with. 

Mark breathes out slowly. He doesn’t look at Johnny, only turns his face upwards and looks at the stars again. He hears the gravel crunching as Johnny presumably takes a seat on the lighthouse steps. 

There’s something grounding in the weight that comes from looking up at the vast expanse of the universe. Mark draws his hand up to his mouth and chews on his index fingernail absentmindedly. He considers it in his head. Contemplates the likelihood of it all going to shit. 

And yeah. There’s that bubbling nervousness in the pit of his stomach that tells him he’s leaning towards the wrong decision. That choosing to even open himself up to the idea of  _ dating Johnny _ would be an absolute recipe for disaster. 

Mark turns silently. Drops onto the cold concrete and presses himself into Johnny’s side. 

Johnny has his head in his hands, and he makes a strange humming noise when Mark sits next to him. 

“You mean all that?” Mark says quietly.

And Johnny’s head shoots up, tilts to look at him side on, eyes narrowing as he studies Mark’s expression. In the quietest whisper, he says, “Of course.” 

Looking at him now, Mark knows that he has the upper hand in this situation. Johnny’s never been one to ask for much for himself, and even a confession of that scale likely blew all the wind out of his sails. 

Mark leans in, just a little and watches as Johnny’s eyes flick down to rest on his mouth for a beat before shooting back up to his eyes. 

“If you only kiss me because you feel bad for me, I think… I think I’d prefer it if you didn’t.” Johnny says shakily.

Mark reaches a hand up to tuck it under his chin, to pull Johnny in a little closer. When they’re barely centimeters from each other, Mark sucks in a breath, “This isn’t a pity kiss.”

And then he presses his mouth firmly against Johnny’s. Feels the way Johnny sighs into the warmth of his mouth. Johnny’s hands come up along the sides of his arms, fighting off the bitter wind in the evening air. 

Mark’s lips part easily when Johnny bites down on his lower lip, making it easy for Johnny to slip his tongue inside. And _ok,_ maybe Mark never got this far when he imagined _being_ _with_ Johnny. But, _by god_ , is it so much better than he’d ever allowed himself to consider. 

Mark shivers when Johnny’s hands slide up underneath the hem of his sweater. And Johnny stops moving, pulls back slightly to look Mark in the eyes. “You’re freezing, Mark. Why didn’t you say anything?”

And Mark laughs because it’s so completely and utterly  _ Johnny _ . He tips his head back, leans further into Johnny’s warmth.

“ _ Don’t laugh at me _ , you’ll catch a cold.”

Which of course only makes Mark laugh harder. Johnny tries to coerce him into getting back in the car, promises that they can still make out inside if Mark wants. But he’s too busy soaking in the stars, in the cold. He lets himself go easily though when Johnny pulls him into a proper hug, tucking his head into the crook of Johnny’s neck and pressing gentle kisses against the soft skin there. 

It’s late when they finally trudge back to Johnny’s car. Mark groans at the sight of the time displayed on the digital clock. And deep down, he knows that he’s not going to be up in time for his class in the morning.

Resigning himself to his fate, he lets Johnny kiss him goodbye in the doorway of his dorm room. Takes his sweet time climbing into bed. Considers everything as he lies awake in the early hours of the morning. 

But when he finally closes his eyes, there’s galaxies painted on the backs of his eyelids. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/thekeehorse)  
> • [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ghoulhwa)  
> 


End file.
